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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26190436">second chances</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kotaka_kun/pseuds/kotaka_kun'>kotaka_kun</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Daredevil (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Established Relationship, Getting Together, Law School, M/M, Time Travel, my tenses might be messy sorry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:33:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,512</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26190436</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kotaka_kun/pseuds/kotaka_kun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>So Foggy made it a point to go out of his way to do things for Matt, this time around. He’d spent several nights thinking about it, and came to the conclusion that there had to be a reason why he’d been sent back in time like this, to Matt before his Daredevil-ing. In his own time, he’d come to learn that Matt felt as though the weight of the whole world (or at least the city) rested on his shoulders, and Foggy thought that maybe -- just maybe -- that’s what he was here to do: get him to put down that boulder. Here and now, he’s able to love Matt without fretting over his own insecurities. He’s able to show Matt what it’s like to be loved unconditionally.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Matt Murdock/Franklin "Foggy" Nelson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>122</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Daredevil and Defenders Exchange 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>second chances</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/happybeans/gifts">happybeans</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>for the ‘law school’ prompt -- I’ve had time travel on my mind for a bit now, so:</p>
<p>Foggy, well versed in anything and everything Matt Murdock -- even his devilish secrets -- wakes up one day and finds himself back in law school, with the chance to change everything for Matt</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>At first, Foggy isn’t sure what it is that sets him on edge. He’s barely conscious, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes, but he knows something isn’t right. The bed under him isn’t immediately familiar, isn’t the silk sheets he’s become used to waking up to in the time since he’d moved in with Matt several years ago, so there’s admittedly a brief panic as he sits up in what he can only think is an unfamiliar place. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But then Matt is there, so it eases the tightness in his chest some. Nothing could be too wrong if Matt was with him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Matt, what-” Foggy’s voice dies in his throat when he finally gets a good look at Matt, because Matt looks different. He’s still undoubtedly Matt, but he just looks so... </span>
  <em>
    <span>young</span>
  </em>
  <span>. His stubble is gone and he’s missing all the scars Foggy’s become so used to seeing, and the dark glasses he’s reaching for are the rectangular ones that he’d been wearing when Foggy met him for the first time, and it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “What happened to you?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Matt frowns as he sits up to face Foggy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Foggy opens his mouth to tell him exactly what he means, when he finally does a sweep of the room, and suddenly he can’t find his voice. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’re in their old dorm room at Colombia, with beds and desks on opposite sides of the room and everything, and Foggy can’t quite wrap his mind around it. He wonders if he’s dreaming. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What are we doing here?” Foggy asks slowly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” Matt repeats. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean, what are we doing here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s a little early for an existential crisis, Fog.” Matt says, half laughing. “Is the exam stress finally getting to you?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Foggy’s head spins, and he flops back down on his bed without another thought, trying to make sense of things. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t that something had happened to Matt -- something had happened to </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and he had no way of knowing what. But what it meant was that he was back in Columbia, with Matt as a roommate. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Foggy?” Matt’s leaning over him, concern written across his face. “Are you okay? You sound...” He trails off, clearly unsure how to categorize what must be a bizarre reaction, and Foggy can’t blame him. He wonders what his pounding heart is telling Matt right now, not that he’s supposed to know that Matt can hear to that degree. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>The thought gives him pause, as it dawns on him that the things he knows are probably things he shouldn’t know, and he doesn’t know how to deal with that just yet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll be okay, Matty,” Foggy promises, though he don’t know how he could be, “Just had a bad dream.” He can see the downwards slant of Matt’s lips as he clocks that obvious lie, but the fact that he doesn’t call Foggy out on it is telling enough. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you say so.” Matt shrugs, sitting beside him on his bed. “I’m here though,” he says eventually, “If you wanna... talk about it.” He looks thoughtful, as if he were still searching for words that might otherwise persuade Foggy to elaborate without quite giving away his ability to sniff out a lie from a mile away, or whatever. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Foggy manages a smile, because isn’t this just classic Matt? The mostly negligible emotional intelligence, though not for a lack of trying; the lingering just out of reach in times when Foggy wanted nothing more than to hold him; the almost pouty pensive look he got. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was out of habit that Foggy extended a hand and took Matt’s in his, giving it a squeeze. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks, Matty. Really.” he says earnestly, “I’m okay though, really.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh,” Matt says intelligently, and it takes Foggy a moment to understand why. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looks up at Matt, who is blushing to the tips of his ears, and Foggy mentally slaps himself in the face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh,” Foggy pulls his hand back, “Sorry.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Matt lets go, but he remains still afterwards, not pulling away like Foggy expected. He tilts his head ever so slightly towards Foggy, likely listening to his reaction, his expression the biggest giveaway that he might be wishing that Foggy hadn’t pulled away. There’s a pinch between his brows, and he’s worrying at his lip, and now it’s Foggy that has to school his expression into something that is hopefully unreadable enough. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now that he knows what to look for, this Matt is suddenly incredibly easy to read. All his tells were just as obvious, if not more so, than Foggy’s Matt (he really had to come up with a better way to differentiate the two), and it was kinda endearing to be honest. Not to mention that after being with Matt for so long, Foggy knows exactly what it looks like when Matt tries to hide his feelings, tries to push them down so that Foggy won’t notice. But Foggy does this time, and it’s sweet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Matt had always deserved better than the shit cards the universe had dealt him, Foggy thinks, and maybe this is a chance for him to do something about it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So Foggy made it a point to go out of his way to do things for Matt, this time around. He’d spent several nights thinking about it, and came to the conclusion that there had to be a reason why he’d been sent back in time like this, to Matt before his Daredevil-ing. In his own time, he’d come to learn that Matt felt as though the weight of the whole world (or at least the city) rested on his shoulders, and Foggy thought that maybe -- just maybe -- that’s what he was here to do: get him to put down that boulder. Here and now, he’s able to love Matt without fretting over his own insecurities. He’s able to show Matt what it’s like to be loved unconditionally. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He remembered Matt saying that his grandmother always said that Murdock boys had the devil in ‘em, but Foggy had been around Matt to see that nothing was further from the truth. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His Matt was coming around to that notion, but if Foggy could get this Matt to understand it</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s always been easy to love Matt. It came as naturally as breathing, and Foggy saw the effects immediately. Matt becomes softer around the edges when Foggy praises him and when Foggy takes care of him, is faster to smile at Foggy like a sunflower turning to the sun, relaxes more with Foggy and lets his guard down. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And yeah, maybe Foggy missed being able to hold Matt’s hand and kiss him, but if the way Matt would smile at him was any indication, he wouldn’t have to wait very long before doing it again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Foggy’s so caught up in making sure that Matt feels safe and cared for that he forgets that there are something that he just can’t change. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Because this time, Foggy catches glimpses of the look Matt gets when he hears what he can only assume to be the little girl crying out for help the first time. He sees him grit his teeth and ball his hands into fists, breathing in a way that’s meant to center him. Later, Foggy sees Matt on the phone, his expression tight as he speaks into it quietly, and Foggy knows it’s the fruitless call to CPS that he’s making. Foggy knows it’s only a matter of time before Matt takes matters into his own hands, so he takes the time to make sure Matt has what he needs -- everything from extra strong coffee in the morning, to ample hugs and pats on the back </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the night comes when Matt sneaks out dressed in black and ready for a fight, Foggy stays up waiting for him, ice pack and first aid kit at the ready. Matt is clearly surprised, but comes in anyway, and doesn’t hide his hands when Foggy asks to take a look at them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s beginning to wonder if Matt knows that his secret is out, but he never asks, never presses. Foggy reminds himself that it was okay that there were things that Matt wouldn’t tell him just yet. He knew that Matt had his reasons, however self-sacrificial and self-deprecating they might be, and he trusted Matt to tell him when he was ready. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Turns out he didn’t have to wait long. That very night, after Foggy put away the first aid kit and Matt’s other injuries have been seen to, Matt quietly admits his secret to Foggy, and then pours his heart out to Foggy, rushes to tell him everything as if this were confession, but he doesn’t say a thing that Foggy didn’t already know, so that keeps him from losing it like he did the first time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It also helps that Matt admits to having a crush on him too, towards the end, and Foggy beams at him without shame. He leans in to kiss Matt just as Matt does the same. </span>
</p>
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